U21 ‘A’ Football Championship – First Round
St Galls 0-6 Rossa 3-9
By Brendan McTaggart
Rossa were made to fight all the way for their progression in the U21 Championship on Sunday afternoon. After five minutes of the second half, the sides were level but the Jeremiah’s went through the gears to finish the opening round proper of the ‘A’ championship superbly. Dominic McEnhill again top scoring for the U21 favourites, 1-3 of his 1-4 coming in the second half – all the more impressive considering St Galls had been double marking him from the first whistle. Daire Matthews with the first major in the opening half while a late and rather fortuitous goal from substitute Caolan Walsh put an unfair reflection on the score line for St Galls who were closer to their west Belfast neighbours than the result suggested.
Right from the first whistle, this was a fascinating and keenly contested encounter. Both sides started at a frenetic pace with tackles hard and fair. End to end stuff, owed much to the officiating of referee Collie McKnight.
The opening score of the match came in the seventh minute thanks to a Daire Matthews major. Despite dominating the possession in the opening exchanges, Rossa were struggling to make any real penetration in an organised St Galls defence. A rare foray into the Rossa half resulted in a turnover and counter, led by Captain Deaglan Murphy. He ran almost the length of the field before offloading to Matthews who found the bottom corner of Niall McCurdy’s net with a drilled finish.
Fresh from his antics in recent weeks, McEnhill was always going to be a marked man but he did manage to evade the challenges of two St Galls defenders before scoring the first point of the match in the 14th minute. St Galls responded immediately when Jack McCaffrey split the posts, finishing a swift move and kick starting the home sides challenge.
Cormac McGettigan stretched the Rossa lead to four points once again in the 21st minute but that was their last score of the half as St Galls ended the half on top. Points from Conaill Murray, a superb strike from Eoghan McCabe from a side line and a point from Captain Ryan Irvine left the minimum between the sides at the short whistle.
The first half was played at a fast pace, but it was the organisation of the home side that was the most impressive and decisive factor. Rossa lorded possession for long periods but couldn’t find any space and time when it mattered most. The Milltown Row side were much more economical with McCabe a major influence as the half progressed.
A point from marauding midfielder Emmet Loughran brought parity to the sides early in the first half and St Galls looked like they were picking up where they left off before the short whistle.
With the match in the melting pot, both sides were guilty of indiscretions in the tackle, Kevin Bradley and Cormac McGettigan both receiving black cards, but it was Rossa who began to find consistency in attack with McEnhill in particular finding his range. He put his side ahead once again before substitute Caolan Walsh opened a two-point advantage for the Shaws Road men.
Further scores from Gerard Walsh (free), Darren Grego and McEnhill (free) gave Rossa a five-point lead before they scored their second goal of the match in the 51st minute. Caolan Walsh with the long ball into the edge of the square where McEnhill was surrounded by the St Galls defence. Looking second favourite for possession, the Rossa starlet managed to gather the loose ball and evading the St Galls challenged before firing an unstoppable shot beyond McCurdy.
St Galls responded with a Che Ferguson point to keep their fading hopes of causing an upset alive, but it proved to be a false dawn with Rossa in no mood to open the door for a St Galls recovery. Caolan Walsh and McEnhill (free) added gloss to the score line for the visitors before Walsh scored the third major of the contest for the Shaws Road men. Retrieving the ball wide on the left, Walsh shot looking for his second point of the match but McCurdy misjudged the flight and the ball found the corner of the St Galls net.
12 points the difference between the sides and Rossa progress to a quarter-final meeting with neighbours St John’s next Sunday.
TEAMS
St Galls: Niall McCurdy; Che Ferguson; Marcus Donnelly; Conaill Murray; John McCaffrey; Ryan Irvine; Jack Hopkins; Thomas Bunting; Emmet Loughran; Conor McManus; Michael Hopkins; Oran Delaney; Eoghan McCabe; Caolan Chada; Kevin Bradley
Rossa: Michael Byrne; Jack Morris; Conor McGowan; Niall Crossan; Tiarnan Murphy; Conor Slane; Michael McGreevey; Eoghan McMenamin; Gerard Walsh; Cormac McGettigan; Darren Grego; Deaglan Murphy; Daire Matthews; Dominic McEnhill; Michael Close
SCORERS
St Galls: Che Ferguson 0-1; Conaill Murray 0-1; John McCaffrey 0-1; Ryan Irvine 0-1; Emmet Loughran 0-1; Eoghan McCabe 0-1
Rossa: Dominic McEnhill 1-4 (2 frees); Caolan Walsh 1-1; Daire Matthews 1-00; Darren Grego 0-1 (1 free); Cormac McGettigan 0-1; Gerard Walsh 0-1 (1 free); Padraig McParland 0-1
Referee: Collie McKnight (St Johns)
Pics by Bert Trowlen and Brendan McTaggart